Fernando's Bizarre Adventure
by Seafarerholmes
Summary: Left behind in Rio while Julio and Linda are out exploring the Amazon, Fernando tries his best to pass the time. Unfortunately for him, his latest attempt might very well cost him his humanity.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was setting on the city of Rio as a brown-skinned pre-teen pulled his bike into a driveway on the outskirts of the city, in a sparsely inhabited area close to the avian conservation centre. The area might as well have been a small jungle with a cottage in the centre due to the dense vegetation. A large population of various species of birds had taken home in the trees. The kid, Fernando as he was called, was currently enjoying his holidays and had taken to frequently go and give a hand at the conservation centre where his adoptive parents worked.

Unfortunately, said parents, namely Linda and Tulio, were currently out of town and on an expedition deep into the Amazonian jungle. They wouldn't let him come along saying it was too dangerous and had (albeit reluctantly) left him under the care of Gloria, the woman Tulio had left in charge of the centre while he was away. On a more joyful note, having to deal with the centre meant Gloria was rather busy and left him (mostly) on his own as long as he stayed within the limits of the centre's protected area (which included his home) and kept her in touch. He was fine with it, being rather used to live on his own what with having lived for a couple years as a stay orphan.

Too bad Gloria insisted on having him eat along with her, he would rather choose what he ate himself but maybe she did have a point about him being too young to be trusted to eat healthy.

Fernando waved at a pair of greenwing macaws passing above, getting a squawk in return. He then entered the house and made a beeline for the living room, plopping down in the couch to watch TV for the rest of the evening. Admittedly, while working at the centre was great and he loved learning about how he could heal birds and be of any help, the rest of his days were rather boring. Linda had found him a school but it was currently the holidays and he had sworn her he wouldn't be found wandering the favelas with his old acquaintances. None of his friends from school was currently in town at that, so this was really only the centre that kept him busy.

Fernando failed to notice the flock of assorted birds watching TV from the windowsill behind him as he watched a football match –Chile against Uruguay this evening- and leafed through a notebook of his in which he kept sketches of birds and tips regarding medical care. Boy did he wish Linda and Tulio were here, as odd as it was for him, he missed them despite the Rocinha favela having gotten him used to solitude.

The match ended with a 2-1 for Chile, and Fernando headed to bed more out of sheer boredom than actual fatigue. Gloria said he would only need to work half the next day at the centre as she was onto a project. She said she would prepare him a meal to heat at home for the evening and made him swear to be extra careful on his own –not that any of the centre's personal was very far at any time, the cottage was in the natural reserve after all-. He would have to find a way to keep himself busy, maybe with Tulio's last Christmas gift.

Looking out the window before turning off the lights and calling it a day, he witnessed the birds of the reserve also tucking in at the same time. Macaws, toucans, and others –with even a couple of spoonbills- had chosen to elect residence around Tulio's cottage. Not to forget the blue macaw family living literally next to them, Tulio and Linda must really have a good reputation among the local bird population.

Fernando rolled over in his bed and fell asleep in short order.

The next day, Fernando was woken up by Gloria knocking on his bedroom's door. He startled and looked at his clock, 8.32, he had slept in, again.

"Sorry Gloria!" He cried out "Coming right now" He said, grabbing a handful of fresh clothes.

"Hurry up sleepyhead!" He heard back "Breakfast's already served!"

That was one thing with Gloria, she would insist on having breakfast with him when she made him work at the centre in the morning so he would "maintain a healthy living habit". Fernando practically ran out his bedroom's door only to be snatched by the collar before he could reach the kitchen. He turned around to see his current caretaker shaking her head with a grin on her face. The bronze skinned woman pointed a thumb in the direction of the bathroom."No teeth, no breakfast" She said mockingly. The kid begrudgingly complied and went to brush his teeth.

Gloria was waiting for him with a breakfast from the nearest bakery in the kitchen. Fernando plopped down in a chair at the table and helped himself to a slice of bread which he copiously covered in jam and butter, downing it all with some juice as Gloria walked him through the day's programme. First treat some lightly injured birds that had been admitted recently, monitor those under care in wing B and then, the best part, helping one of the supervisors, José, with the releases of the day at the watchtower further in the reserve and he would call it a day.

They both walked the rest of the way to the centre; Gloria preferred to leave her Jeep at the cottage to save parking space. As they were leaving, Fernando saw his two favourite birds in the area starting their day as well with their three chicks.

"Hi Blu, hi Jewel!" He greeted with a wave, receiving squawks in return from Blu, Jewel just acknowledged him, busy with managing her own brethren.

Overall his day was rather good as far as the first half went: the birds in treatment at the centre had grown accustomed to him and with the supervision of the staff he could do a pretty good job, managing to take care of the simpler injuries on his own. He thought he had found the right trick and behaviour to treat the birds without upsetting them too much. Then he met with José and helped the middle-aged supervisor loading a jeep with the birds ready for release. The man was a bit rough on the edges but not too much trouble as long as the job was done right.

There weren't that many birds cleared for release, barely a dozen and two of which Fernando had personally helped. José talked him through the paperwork while simultaneously emptying the vehicle.

"I wish there weren't so much forms to go through" He muttered at no one in particular after completing the job.

"You and me both, kid!" José yelled from the top of the tower. "Try as you might, no one in the centre could get Tulio to loosen up about paperwork in as long as he's been here. Man sure loves his statistics."

Fernando joined the older man at the top of the tower with the last cage containing a military macaw. The young male seemed aware of his imminent release and wouldn't stop chattering; if the flock of his brethren on a nearby branch was any indication, his friends were here waiting for him. He opened the cage and rid the bird of the triage bracelet on his leg before carrying him in the palm of his hands onto the balcony. The macaw chirruped happily, braced his wings and took to the sky.

He was quickly met by his flock and they passed overhead with a parting squawk.

"What was that one here for already?"Said José "Sprained wing" The boy answered "Doesn't seem like it's much of a problem anymore; I'm definitely making a sketch of that one later".

It felt good to know his help at the centre could do some good like that. He doubted a bird could survive for long without flight, that macaw had been very lucky to only hurt itself in the reserve. Anywhere else wouldn't have left him much chance to survive. José and Fernando headed back to the centre with the elder giving the boy a lengthy explanation on how to treat leg injuries on a spoonbill and how to prevent infections. Somehow, he managed to present it in a way that kept a pre-teen interested and pay attention to the road at the same time without any apparent effort.

For all his interest in work at a conservation centre, Fernando would be hard-pressed to admit liking the theory much. Practical work he loved, for sure, but a lesson on avian anatomy would have him dozing off within seconds. His caretakers seemed to respect that –he was just a kid after all- and set him toward the more hands-on tasks of the reserve, numerous as they were.

"There we are kid; just don't forget to tell Gloria you're done." José said "Gotta go, still plenty of work ahead of me." The man hurriedly stepped out of the jeep and headed for the opposite wing of the building.

"Ciao José, and thanks for the tips!" Fernando answered, to which the man replied with a grunt and a dismissive wave before disappearing behind a corner.

He pulled his notebook from the back pocket of his shorts and tucked in a note on which he had noted down some of the more useful tips and methods he had just been told, along with a decent looking sketch of a flock of military macaws flying in formation. The little cardboard covered notebook was a gift from Linda upon adopting him and was already well worn and almost full. Thinking about her sent a pang of loneliness coursing through his guts but he carried on.

He passed a handful of lab coat-clad veterinarians as he made his way inside and found Gloria sitting at a table in the cafeteria, her face riveted to her laptop and a BLT sandwich lying forgotten on her lap.

"Hey Gloria, José sent me tell you we're done so... Can I go home now?"

The only response he got from her was a distracted nod as she frenetically began typing. With a shrug he grabbed a Tupperware labelled "Evening / Fernando" that was lying next to her and made his way out. Poor woman was having a lot of difficulties dealing with what was usually Tulio's workload. So Fernando snatched a cheese sandwich from the cafeteria's refrigerator and made his way out.

On his way back home he was met by a cardinal and a finch that seemed rather curious and flew a few circles around him whistling to each other before following him home. They left as he passed the porch and walked the way to his bedroom. Now he just had to find a way to keep himself busy for the rest of the day and he had just the thing on his mind for that. He rummaged through his shelves for it, having to dig into an untidy mess of football memorabilia and discarded schoolbooks before finding his quarry.

Last Christmas Tulio had been gone on a trip to Brasilia on the sanctuary's behalf and he had profited of the occasion to make his Christmas groceries at a local flea market. What he had found for Fernando was a vintage chemistry set. Having had one in his youth he suspected it would be a pretty nice gift.

"Let's see what this thing is all about then." He said as he dropped the box on the living room's table. The opened box revealed a stash of ingredients with one or two Erlenmeyer's, a gas burner and a guidebook which was promptly discarded.

At this moment, one of Blu's chicks flew in, Bia if he recalled it. She was a lean, bright feathered chick and there was hardly a detail that her bright green eyes failed to miss. She perched on the table and gave the guidebook a curious look. Fernando just greeted her with a brief "Hi", slid the book across the table to her and went on with his random chemistry. He decided to trust his guts on that one and placed an Erlenmeyer above the burner.

At some point in time, Tiago slipped inside to watch as well without Fernando noticing. He exchanged a few chirps with his sister and settled not far from the burner, an interested look on his face. Both Bia and Fernando were way too focussed on what they were doing to pay attention. Minutes after his arrival, the last of the chicks, Carla flew through the window. She stopped mid-flight to assess the situation and then promptly landed next to Tiago, still failing to elect a response from either Bia or Fernando.

At this point, he had left the burner run out of gas and kept on adding colourful powders he fished out of the kit, seemingly at random. That earned him a worried glance from Bia who jumped on his shoulder and started pointing toward specific components with her wing. Fernando just shrugged with his free shoulder and complied in silence. The Erlenmeyer was by then filled with a bubbling brownish liquid, obviously scalding hot.

Off to the side were Carla and Tiago, watching too, with the former listening to her IPod. Tiago apparently wanted to listen to music too because he yanked the ear bud away from his sister and emitted a sharp squawk. They both started bickering and entered a tug-of-war for the pod. This also failed to be noticed by the would-be chemistry experts at the other end of the table, who were now giving the simmering result of their "experience" a weird look. The substance could hardly qualify as a proper chemical and was more of a haphazard solution of random products which even an apt scientist would fail to analyze such a mess it was.

It was at this moment that the chicks' mother flew in, having heard the squabble between her children. Jewel also had a mind to tell Bia off for what she was doing but set her sights on the more imminent matter at hand.

Carla kept on pulling with her claw at the IPod on the one side and Tiago had gotten himself stuck in the cord and pulled with his beak at it. The ear buds suddenly came off the jack port and sent them both rolling. The item went flying in the air and landed with a loud noise across the table, blaring music loudly and startling Fernando out of his wits with sudden pop music. That wasn't too good to hear because the boy was holding the chemical container up to his face and he dropped it in surprise. It shattered as it fell on the table and both Bia and Fernando were promptly splashed with boiling hot liquid, the latter being far worse off. He fell on his arse with a sharp cry, having just had most of his left arm touched. Bia fell next to him and the way she held her leg let little doubt as to where she had been hit. Looking at his arm, he was quick to notice the skin taking an unhealthy tint and blisters were already forming in places.

"I have to get to the centre" He said more to himself than anybody in particular and attempted to stand up but he felt dizzy and his vision started to blur. He tried to lean against the table but his movements were sluggish, as if he was wading through a cloud of marshmallow. With a groan, he fell on his side and blacked out.

* * *

Jewel hadn't even had the time to start berating her quarrelling before another accident added up to the pile. She heard more than saw glass shatter and did a 180 turn when she heard her daughter cry out.

She was next to Bia the instant she touched the floor, whispering her soothing words and stroking her with her wings. She had a bad burn on her leg and tears in her eyes.

"Shhh, shh, it's alright Bia" Jewel said as she held her sobbing daughter. "We'll get you some water for that, okay?"

Jewel then noticed Fernando's attempt at standing, the boy slurred something she didn't quite make out and quickly collapsed. He seemed in a pitiful state to be honest, but Jewel had her priorities as a mother straight and focused on her own child.

Carla and Tiago hopped over to the edge of the table and gazed down worriedly at the wounded kids. Tiago gulped loudly, feeling a tad guilty over what just occurred. He nudged Carla and nodded silently toward the open window, hoping to make a break for it but his plans were squashed before he could even try as Blu flew in, followed by Rico and Pedro. They must have heard the ruckus.

"Whoa, looks like a bomb went off over here!" commented Pedro with an impressed whistle before landing next to Tiago.

"Yeah, what just happened? And why is Fernando unconscious?" asked Rico. He looked at Blu who had joined his wife's side to comfort his hurt daughter.

"We... had a bit of an... accident" said Carla, very quietly. She looked a bit ashamed herself. Their sister had seemed to be doing alright before they started fighting next to her and Fernando. She was even working alright with the human boy and had clearly been enjoying herself. Well, so much for that.

As bad as things were, they took a turn for the unexpected when Fernando's unconscious body spontaneously erupted in a bright flash. When the light disappeared, all birds in the room gasped: there was nothing left but a pile of clothes in Fernando's place. On the table, they were gaping so widely that Rico didn't notice his bottle cap falling off his head.

Tiago glided down and approached the pile of clothes, much to his parents 'dismay. But Blu's protests died down in his throat when Tiago nudged a lump in the pile – which was rising and falling in a distinct manner -. Blu's youngest pulled the shirt at the top of the pile aside to reveal... an unconscious blue spix chick, about as old as Blu's children.

 _Thunk-_ There was the sound of Pedro fainting outright, but that went unnoticed by the rest. They stared for a few moments before Bia broke the silence, her voice a mix of pain and bewilderment.

"I haven't gone crazy from pain, have I?" That snapped everyone out of their daze. Carla, Tiago and Nico gathered around the chick.

"No you haven't sweetie..." Answered Jewel "No, you haven't..."


	2. Chapter 2

Minutes later, everyone was gathered in the kitchen. Pedro had –mostly- recovered from his fainting and Bia was dipping her burnt leg in a glass of water. They all formed a loose circle around the unconscious chick they had laid on the kitchen counter.

Said chick appeared to be about equal in size to Carla, but leaner and seemingly somewhat older. He shared Blu's cerulean feather colour except for his chest and neck which were much lighter in colour. He also sported a scruffy crest atop his head and a "collar" of feathers not unlike Blu's. Despite his current unconsciousness, he seemed healthy and breathed normally.

Carla and Tiago were frantically going through Fernando's notebook in hope of finding any clue about the situation, without success. As for Bia, she was vehemently denying having any knowledge on what could have caused this. She said she was loosely following the instructions for some "funny foam" in the chemistry manual.

Occupied with all that fuss, none noticed when the chick began to stir...

* * *

Fernando's mind was hazy, to say the least. As he began to wake up, he felt more like trying to surface from being submerged in mud than actually waking up. He also didn't feel quite right. The air didn't fill his lungs like he was used to when he breathed and he got strange feelings from his limbs. He was lying on his back but his appendages didn't align normally.

There were voices he couldn't make out yet around him, talking rapidly. Some seemed worried but he couldn't get a grasp on the ongoing conversation. He shook himself off of the haze surrounding his mind bit by bit.

First, he attempted to open his eyes slowly. Light stung his eyes sharply and he closed them again. His first glance of the world, brief as it was, showed him his kitchen, but at an odd angle. Fernando let his eyes get accustomed to the light and made another attempt. Weirdly enough, his field of view felt different too, and something dark lay in the centre of his vision. He was laying on... the counter? That didn't make any sense. Everything looked a lot bigger too. He craned his neck to look around and then the voices around him stopped at once.

Fernando was surrounded by birds. Blu, Jewel, their chicks, a finch and a cardinal were forming a circle around him (weren't they the ones flying around him earlier?), and somehow they towered above him. He subconsciously shrunk under their gaze, as confused as someone can possibly be. Then something impossible happened, the cardinal opened his beak and... talked.

"You alright there buddy?" He said. Poor Fernando was gaping at the cardinal. He tried to crawl away from him but his body refused to respond as usual. He shifted his gaze toward his chest and where he expected to find human skin and a football T-shirt, he found blue feathers.

The boy turned chick screamed in horror but what came out of his throat was more of a terrified squawk. He brought his hands to his face only to see wings come up and brush against a black beak. Then he got a good look at what had become of his legs, now ending with four black claws each. That was for the last straw for his strained mind and he just froze on the spot.

* * *

Tiago wasn't exactly sure what was happening at the moment. The second after Pedro opened his beak; the chick had begun to panic, tried to scramble away and then just stood there petrified, looking at his claws.

There was little doubt that the mysterious chick was Fernando, and Tiago kinda liked the human. He was very different from the other humans in the reserve, a lot more lively and he had a great deal of empathy towards birds for a human. He loathed seeing him in such a terrible state. He crept up on Fernando and laid a comforting wing on his back.

Fernando's head turned toward him so fast he swore he could have broken his neck if he tried. Tiago gave him a small smile and said "It's alright. We can help." Honestly he didn't really think they could be they might as well give it a try.

"Actually Tiago, we would need to know how Fernando turned into a macaw if we wanted to help" Bia spoke up. Trust her to call her brother out on that.

The transformed human attempted to stand up, without much success. Only when Tiago helped him up and let him lean on him did he manage to achieve an upright position. Fernando's gaze shifted from bird to bird for a few seconds and settled on Tiago. He made to speak but what came out was but a slurred squawk. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Wh... What happened?" He said with a noticeable hint of worry in his voice. "And how are you speaking?" That second one was actually a pretty good question. Nobody really knew why humans couldn't understand animals when they talked. Blu was the one who answered him.

"You fainted after the glass container shattered. It spilt on you and burnt Bia. After that you turned into... well as you can see you turned into a blue macaw. As for speaking, we always could. You just didn't understand us, as no human ever does."

That earned him a bewildered look from Fernando. But something clicked within him when Bia was mentioned.

"Hold on a second" He addressed Bia and started toward her. Or rather tried to, he made a single step forward and fell flat on his face with a groan. Tiago helped him up again and he hobbled toward her at a slower pace. Clearly macaws didn't walk the same way as humans, and the tail feathers dragging on the counter were bothersome too.

"You shouldn't just dip the burn in water" He continued "If you want it to heal right, keep it under running water for about 20 minutes at room temperature. I think Linda also keeps some burn slave and bandages above the sink too. Try that instead."

Fernando stumbled toward the faucet and tried to grab it with his wings, but again fell, this time in the sink. His indignant squawk garnered him looks from the rest of the room's occupants.

"Bia, I think you ought to listen to him" Jewel gave her daughter a nudge. "He does help at the centre so he should know"

Jewel's youngest daughter made her way to the sink, hopping on one claw with a wince marring her facial features. That grimace disappeared as soon as her brother opened the water above her wounded claw. Except Tiago neglected to take Fernando into account and gave poor Fernando a good shower.

Said person climbed his way out of the sink and glowered at the little macaw. He shook the water off of him like a dog, drenching Tiago in the process and turned back towards the adults.

"Alright, wounds are dealt with. Now we can focus on the matter." He spoke, still with a bit of difficulty, showing he wasn't used to the beak yet. "Like do you know how this" He gestured to himself "happened?"

"No clue, really" Nico answered "You just fainted, there was a flash and then, feathers happened"

That wasn't really the answer Fernando expected and didn't help in any way. He turned a questioning glance towards Bia but only a shrug for answer. He groaned in annoyance but only irked himself further when what came out his throat sounded more like an irate bird than a human. He slumped against the wall and held his head in his wings. Everything just felt so foreign to him.

"Hey now, I'm sure we can find a solution Fernando." Blu said, approaching the kid with a pained smile. "Surely if we look into it further, we can find a solution. If you can turn into a bird like that, turned you back can't possibly be that hard now, can it?"

"Yeah, we're gonna get you through this in a breeze!" "Sure thing alright!" Nico and Pedro were quick to jump on the occasion to cheer him up. Even Bia and Jewel gave him an encouraging nod from the sink. He allowed a small smile to grace his features.

"This is great, thanks guys. I'm glad I'm not alone with this." Maybe, just maybe there was a chance to solve this. Not that any crossed his mind at the moment. Still, any bit of help was more than welcome. He allowed himself to lighten up for now. "What do you say we get to it now? It's not like I have anything else to do at the moment."

"We can help but only for a bit," Said Pedro "the club's waiting and we've got auditions to do too." He bobbed his head in an annoyed manner "We've got a lot of candidates to sort through sorry"

"Club? Auditions?"

"Oh yeah" Carla jumped in "Rico and Pedro have the most awesome club this side of the Atlantic! Birds come from all over the place to party there."

"Which you're too young to go to in any case." Jewel was quick to break her momentum in a typical maternal no-nonsense manner.

That amount of organisation in bird society was a bit surprising to Fernando but he didn't show it and just thanked the finch and cardinal for the help anyway.

"I'm gonna look on the computer for clues" He began "You guys stay with Bia for that burn, call me when you need to apply the salve, I will help" He was addressing the spix's macaw family as he stumbled away unsteadily. He reached the edge of the counter and let himself fall on a stool and then on the ground, a bit painfully he might say.

The transformed human completely missed the looks the blue birds were giving him as he disappeared in the doorway to the living room. All of them were giving each other pointed looks, which Pedro and Nico noticed.

"Kid's gonna need our help, come on Nico!" Pedro said and flew off without waiting for an answer. The finch wasn't far behind his best friend and soon enough Jewel's family was gathered alone around the dripping sink.

Jewel turned a predatory gaze toward her children. This didn't bode well for them and they knew it, particularly when Blu was obviously backing her up with a look just as severe on his face.

"So..." The first word made the children flinch "Anyone of you feels like repeating my remarks about NOT getting in the house without me or Blu?"

Bia shrunk noticeably from her position on the sink.

* * *

Making his way to where he had left Linda's I pad was an adventure in itself. Everything around him was a lot bigger and his claws weren't ideal for walking. That made a long stretch out of what should only have been a few paces. And then...

Fernando had left the pad charging on the couch in a corner of the living room, but he had gotten so small he couldn't see the top of the couch from his position on the floor. Being small really sucked, period. He tried to jump to no avail, and without hands climbing was basically out. Sure he knew macaws climbed using their beaks as much as their claws but there just was no way he would be caught doing that.

The party birds found him building a pile of magazines to get to the pad. They perched on top of the sofa and gave him weird looks.

"A little help over there guys? I can't get up."

With a succinct "sure", Nico unplugged the pad and tossed him the cord which Fernando grabbed in his claw. They just pulled him up afterwards.

"Thanks guys" mumbled Fernando.

"No big deal kiddo" answered Pedro "But you really ought to learn climbing or flying if you're gonna stay like that any longer. Which I don't hope is gonna happen of course!" He added as an afterthought.

"But I don't see what's there to help you with that. Got a plan yet?" Nico asked.

"That's the plan" Fernando waved his wing at the Ipad beside him. "We look for some clues on this"

"Oh, I think I saw one guy talk into that once, except it was... smaller?" Pedro poked the pad with a claw.

"Not the same thing I think. That one is basically a small computer" That got him confused looks from his companions. "Think of it like a book, but really high tech" A hesitant nod for answer; guess that would have to do.

He poked the central button with a claw and the device sprung to life, showing a family picture of Linda with Tulio and him. Blu was also on a branch in a corner of the picture. A swipe of his claw proved ineffective to do the unlocking, but it surprisingly worked when he touched the screen with a primary feather. Nico and Pedro were letting out impressed aww's behind him and Fernando decided to entertain them, for all the help they were willing to give.

He opened the music player and selected a samba playlist of Linda's. "Do you guys like Samba?" He asked with a smile.

"Boy, we live on the rhythm of Samba!"

"Alright, lemme put some in the background while we try to figure all this out then" He said as he pressed the play button. Music started playing and he toned the volume down a notch so as not to be too distracting.

He then started up the search engine with a flick of a feather. To his growing surprise, wings were a lot more agile than birds actually let on. He could even flex his primary feathers as if they were fingers even though that ought to be impossible.

"So... What do you guys think we should look for?" He brushed a wingtip against his beak in wonder. "I don't think asking directly is gonna get much results, else we'd know turning into a bird was possible"

The cardinal cocked his head with curiosity. "Dunno, if that's your lil'cocktail that made you that way, maybe look for a potion or something like that?"

With a shrug, he typed in "potion that turns you into a bird" on the engine. Dozens of results popped up immediately. People asking about old films, fiction stories, beauty tips (what the heck?), and nothing actually serious or of any relevance. Trying it in Portuguese wasn't much better, and adding the spix macaw factor only led them to preservation and ecology websites.

All the way in the search, they were bobbing their heads and tapping their claws to the rhythm of Samba, which at least eased the strain on Fernando's nerves. Nico and Pedro were a lot of help, butting in with ideas he wouldn't have had on his own, but Internet was desperately void of knowledge regarding substances that can change one's species, unsurprisingly.

If he could, Fernando would have made an attempt to check out the deep web. His better judgement and actual lack of capacity to do it prevented him from consulting the more disturbing parts of humanity's prime mean of information sharing, fortunately or not depending on who you were asking.

An hour in the search, Nico and Pedro bade him their farewell and went on their way back to town. With the canary adding that they would gladly keep helping him if they could find the time, but they had their own club to deal with. Fernando promised to visit when he got the chance, being really curious as far as how birds could actually go clubbing.

With a sigh, he turned off Linda's Ipad, shook his head dejectedly and hopped off the couch. He more or less stumbled his way back to the kitchen in a not so elegant manner. Macaws weren't very good walkers in the first place, being unused to this body didn't really make it any better. He saw the blue macaw family chatting on the kitchen counter. Bia was now sporting a smear of burn salve on her leg, sloppily applied he noted.

Upon reaching the foot of the counter, Fernando called up at them to get their attention. If the couch had already been tall, the counter looked as high as a skyscraper from below. Tiago peered down at him.

"Hey, much luck with Nico and Pedro?"

"Not really, we looked but they had to go back to their club." He answered with a negative shake of his head. "Say, how do I get to you?"

"Uh you can't fly yeah. Try grabbing onto the drawer handles with your beak."

"Beak, of course I should use THE beak, of course..." He muttered too quietly for Tiago to notice.

Looking up, he took aim at a handle on the third row and leapt, beak open. He predictably fell flat on his face. That was going to be a lot harder than it looked, how did birds make it look so damn easy, climbing all over the place? He wished he had the flight part figured out already, or, even better, his original body back.

An electric cord fell in front of him then. Looking up, he saw Carla and Tiago on the edge.

"Hold on to that, we're gonna pull you up." Said Jewel's eldest.

Fernando complied and grabbed the cord tightly with his claws. The kids pulled him up easily enough and he was soon standing next to them... with the adults giving him a quizzical look.

"I can't fly nor climb" He answered the looks with a shrug. He turned his gaze to Bia "So how's the burn?"

She wiggled her afflicted limb. There was some salve on it but it was badly applied and looked like it was gonna fall off any minute from now. The kitchen's first aid kit was laid open beside her.

"That's not going to do it at all Bia. You need a bandage with that." He turned to Jewel and waved a wing in Bia's direction. "May I take care of that? I think what I know ought to do the trick."

Jewel seemed hesitant but Blu jumped in before she could object.

"By all means, if what I heard from the others about you is true then I'm sure she's gonna be alright."

Fernando pushed the tube of salve and a roll of bandage toward Bia but he stopped after giving the comment some thought.

"What you heard from the others?" He questioned.

"Of course, the grapevine in the reserve knows of you. Ever since you began helping with the care for injured birds you've gotten quite a reputation."

"Birds have a grapevine? I don't know why but that one's not even much of a surprise..." He said as he washed his claws in the sink. "Then again, I've noticed birds around here were behaving a bit differently from the usual. Less skittish I mean, they don't fly away quite as fast and they seem to hover around more often."

"No surprise there really." Mentioned Carla "Word gets around and everyone wants to see what's up with you healing birds. Being part of Tulio and Linda's family helps too."

"Uh uh" Acknowledged Fernando absentmindedly. He grabbed the salve and applied it thoroughly onto Bia's extended leg, making sure the coating was spread thick and even. Then, he rolled a bandage tightly around the burn, which he fastened with some medical duct tape. "Burns aren't too common with macaws" He started "You'll have to replace that tomorrow, and for a few days on at least. Try not to get it too dirty and it will be alright soon enough. 'kay?"

"Yeah sure. Thanks a lot." She said as she tried putting some weight on the injured leg. She didn't seem to be in so much pain at the moment, with the salve doing a numbing effect.

"Oh, and try to keep the leg extended if possible. I can't say for sure if the joint is touched, but please don't take a risk with that."

With that Fernando was left just standing there, sort of. He didn't really have any idea where to go from there on. Blu gave him a look and he just found himself staring awkwardly.

"So..." The older macaw began. "What're you planning to do?"

"I dunno really" He shrugged "I guess I've gotta keep looking for clues. But at this point, I think I'd be better off asking Tulio where he got the chemistry kit from. It's not a serial production and he got it from a flea market."

"Wait a second" Bia countered "Can't you track what we used in it? I mean, sure, it was mostly random but the manual should help."

"Did the manual make any mention of transformation?" Jewel asked.

Bia just shook her head, making a passing note that the ingredients were mostly harmless and fairly standard products. No hope that way, something must be up with the kit itself and the only person who had a lead on that was Tulio.

Then Fernando froze all of a sudden, a panicked look on his face.

"Oh crap" That got him a sharp look from the adults "Sorry, but I just realized I forgot about Gloria."

"Gloria who?" Tiago queried.

"She's Tulio's replacement at the centre, and my caretaker while he's off in the Amazon. I was mostly free today, but she said she would check in with me tomorrow morning. Oh god she's gonna be so worried."

"Ahem, surely we can find a plan Fernando. I don't think we can turn you back by the morning, but maybe..." Tiago looked at his mother in askance "We can find an excuse for your absence? Like, you went back to town or something?"

The human-turned-macaw shook his head at that. "Wouldn't work, too many people know me around the city. They would notice if I haven't actually been there and would just assume I've been kidnapped."

"And that's a bad thing because?" Tiago asked.

"If they think it's a kidnapping, they will go looking here for clues and there is no way I will be able to find a solution, among other things."

Blu started pacing back and forth across the counter, a thoughtful look upon his features. He mumbled unintelligibly for a moment and cast his gaze towards Fernando.

"What if you left a message here?"

"About what?"

"Well, you could say you missed Linda and Tulio so badly, that you went on your way to Manaus to find them."

Bia brightened at once. "Yeah, that wouldn't be close to people you actually know so they wouldn't outright notice it's a lie and they would try to chase after you."

Fernando nodded slowly. "That... might actually work. Linda is gonna be worried sick though when words get to her."

"Where are they exactly anyway at the moment?"

"If I heard that right, they're working at an outpost, far off in the Amazon. They've only got a radio and supply boat for contact."

"So it's gonna be a while before they know of this right? Gives you some time to solve... this" Blu gestured to Fernando with his wing.

Fernando nodded. "Alright, I'm going to leave Gloria a message telling her that." But he stopped moving then. "Ah... I don't think I can use a pencil in that state."

"Write in on the PC then?"

"Right, much better. I'll just leave her a text and hide what I would take to go to Manaus. It should do the trick. I just have to hope they don't think it's a fake." He sighed and made to leave.

"Wait." That was Bia, Fernando turned back to her. "What are you gonna do now? You're not staying with us?"

He just shook his head at that. Entertaining as that may have been, he really needed to keep on searching, even if it yielded nothing at first.

"It's barely 16.30, I'm just going to get that letter done on the computer and print it. Then it's back to surveying the internet for some clues." If there were any actual clues that is, but he didn't dare think about that too much.

With that, Fernando just hopped off the counter and walked to the office. The blue macaw family seemed about to stop him for a moment but a quick look from Jewel stopped them. They flew out the window to do who-knows-what. Fernando honestly didn't give it much thought: they would be back for Bia's leg tomorrow anyway.

As he passed through the living room, his claws walked on some glass shards. He pulled back with a loud curse and only at this moment did he notice a tiny puddle of liquid among the shards. Apparently some of the substance hadn't hit him or Bia and fell there. A sense of hope beamed through his chest and he hurriedly grabbed the smallest vial from the discarded chemistry kit –it had fallen off the table in the confusion-. The macaw carefully hopped on one leg with the vial held in one claw, once more regretting his lack of hands. He delicately scooped the remains of the substance in the vial which he capped with some wax paper. Even with his current reduced size issue, the amount was tiny but it was one more possible lead back to humanity, which was enough to raise his spirits.

The vial was deposited by the entrance of his bedroom, before he made his way onward to the office. He would take a look at it later before going to bed.

The office itself was just a spare room that Linda and Tulio used for administrative work, there still was a guest bed even, and kept ready more for the sake of politeness than actual necessity because they didn't get many guests. In a corner of the room there was a cheap IKEA desk with a fairly standard desktop computer on it. Thankfully, a stack of boxes and binders gave him a mean to climb his way to the keyboard.

With a push of his beak, Fernando pressed the "On" button on both the computer and the printer. They started up with a loud whirr of the ventilator and the obnoxious, deafening, sound of Windows starting up. That had him pressing his wings against his earholes in pain before he pulled the plug on the speakers with his claws.

Figuring out how to use the desktop turned out to be harder than with Linda's tablet, but he recalled a video his adoptive mother had shown him of Blu typing by hopping on the keyboard. Not easy by any stretch of imagination but if he kept the message to Gloria short that would have to do. Using the mouse was thankfully a lot simpler, and he could manage manipulating it with one leg if he stretched out his wings for balance.

Biting off a curse regarding the difficulty of such simple tasks, he opened a word document and set his mind on the task. He needed a message, short and clear, on how he missed his adoptive parents so bad that he went on his own to meet them in the Amazon. That kind of behaviour wasn't really what he would do –he was smart enough to realize they would be back soon enough and he had plenty of people that cared about him in Rio and at the sanctuary-, but with his absence Gloria would be forced to believe it.

Fernando began typing, only for his text to appear in a horrible red and green mess of errors on the screen.

"Goddammit Microsoft!" He exclaimed with an indignant chirp. He erased his first line and set the document to Portuguese, much better. Linda must have used it to write home, hence the English setting.

His message went as such:

 _Dear Gloria,_

 _Please don't think too badly of this, but I can't bear Linda and Tulio's absence anymore. I need to see my family now so I decided to find them myself._

 _When you read this message, I will already be on my way to the Amazon. There is nothing personal about this; you and everyone at the sanctuary are wonderful people, but not quite a family. I guess_ _having lived alone so long is why it's so important._

 _Fernando_

 _PS: sorry for the mess in the living room, I was in a hurry for the bus._

The last line was an utter lie, but should give them a false trail to follow. It pained him to cause the people at the sanctuary that kind of trouble but he didn't really have a choice, and this alternative was better than the kidnapping excuse.

He pressed the print shortcut and got his letter in a neat format. Thanks Linda for programming some premade formats.

Afterwards, he busied himself with more research on internet but it yielded, if it was even possible, less than with the help of the Samba birds. Fernando kept changing search engine and key words, but to no avail. The only mentions of human turning into birds were sheer fantasy or the rambling of most likely delirious idiots on obscure blogs. Not to mention a rather horrific article over an imbecile that tried to turn into a parrot with facial surgery.

Before he could realize it, the clock on the computer showed a late hour and the sun was nearly down. Fernando's stomach grumbled and he was forced to comply to his body's demands, as much as he despised the bloody thing.

He jumped off the desk, making a hard landing on the flooring, and walked to the kitchen. Gloria's meal was out of the window since he didn't expect his present avian organism could withstand the utter awesomeness of good bacon so he would have to gorge himself on the content of the fruit basket on the kitchen table.

Once again, reaching the top of furniture proved to be an adventure in itself and it took him a few minutes of arranging items the right way before he gained access to the desired fruits on the table. A single mango was enough to sate his appetite –the thing was almost as big as he was for Christ's sake- and he found himself enjoying it much more than he usually did. Guess birds have a different way of tasting fruit, not that it was unpleasant. That made him wonder how other food tasted, but that train of thought would have to be postponed.

Because he was way too small to reach the switches, his evening would have to be cut short and rely on sunlight. Fernando finished his meal and wiped the remains off of his beak with his wing. The pit was thrown in the trash can without much of an afterthought and he managed to drink some water from the faucet after jumping from the kitchen table to the counter. At least in this body he didn't need to eat quite as much...

A jump back to the floor and a bit of walk led him to the bathroom. It was a fairly simple bathroom with a sink, toilet and bath/shower. Typically, Linda and Tulio's necessities would have been spread all over the room, but most of them they had taken along on their venture in the Amazon. Now it was mostly Fernando's stuff, with a fair-sized pile of spare towels.

Determined to maintain at the very least a semblance of hygiene despite the loss of his humanity, Fernando hopped inside the bath and pulled on the tap with his beak. Water rained down on him instantly from the shower head. His feathers soaked up the water in a matter of seconds, making him a lot heavier. He let the water run along his body for a few moments, enjoying the relaxing sensation that swept away a bit of the day's accumulated anxiety. He didn't dare use soap because he wasn't a hundred percent certain it would pair well with his feathers, a good rinsing would have to do.

The shower didn't last very long, and the young bird was out within three minutes, the last one having been spent trying to reach the sink's handle in a slippery environment. He shook the water off not unlike a dog and rubbed himself against a towel left lying on the ground, which he had used the night before when he was still human. He let out a sigh –which came out as a soft whistle- and dragged the used towel in the laundry bin with much effort.

By then, the sun was just past the horizon and light was starting to disappear. Amongst the rising shadows and growing darkness, the lone chick walked to his bedroom. He was tired enough that he fell asleep nigh instantly when he hit the pillow on his bed in an inelegant blue heap of feathers.

Unfortunately, the night was not to be a good one for Fernando because the first half of the night, he spent tossing and turning in his sleep, a frown on his face. His claws were clenching and unclenching in quick succession.

"Linda!" He cried out, snapping awake. He looked around, his breath quick and irregular. "Linda?" He asked around fearfully. He made to stand up but then he noticed his own body and the events of the day came back to his mind with a vengeance.

He collapsed on his back with a loud sob, which only aggravated him further when the sob only sounded like a distressed chick. He might not let it on in public, but the added strain of his adoptive parents' absence and the transformation proved to be too much for him. He had done his best to avoid dwelling on it, without success.

His mind reeled with the implications of the transformation, the letter to Gloria, Linda and Tulio's eventual reaction to it. Hundreds of possibilities and outcomes went through his head without any coherence. Fernando was just a crying mess, fearing that the family he had come to love after his life in the favela would be taken from him so easily over a chemistry accident.

His sobbing continued for hours before he settled down enough to catch his breath. He felt so desperately alone at the moment with no one to comfort him, like Linda would when he needed. And there goes his train of thought, making him feel even more miserable.

Fernando found himself looking out his window at the sky. It was a clear night and he could see hundreds of stars shining softly. From where he was lying on his back on his pillow, he just asked the sky a simple request, hoping that whatever power high above would be so kind to help him.

"Please, just please, I only want to see my mother again." He spoke softly.

He didn't get an answer save for the rustle of the wind through the jungle canopy. He rolled over and stuffed his head in his pillow to fall back asleep.

He didn't.

Higher up in the trees, a blue macaw walked back to his nest in the birdhouse, his thoughts now occupied by a particular young macaw.


	3. Chapter 3

When the sun rose above the horizon, Fernando stopped bothering trying to get some sleep and got up with his mind still in turmoil.

The clock on his nightstand told him it was barely six in the morning, way earlier than he would normally get up. He had his feathers sticking out in random directions from his restless sleep and his stomach felt desperately empty. He hopped off his bed with an annoyed grunt and made his way to the kitchen. There should be some fresh fruit left in the bin or the fridge.

The transformed human noted with increasing annoyance how his reduced size considerably lengthened the time it took him to accomplish any form of movement. A simple trip from his bedroom to the kitchen took him almost three times as long as in human form.

Once in the kitchen, he (after a few tries) climbed on the table and picked a passion fruit from the bin which he dug his beak into. The lone fruit was more than enough for him and he let his mind wander as he was chomping away.

Gloria usually turned up around eight in the morning at the cottage. Except this day she wouldn't find Fernando having breakfast, but his letter on the table of the living room. He guessed he could still do a few things to strengthen his alibi. Like hiding the stuff he would take if he really went after Linda and Tulio. He had just the spot to hide those in the attic.

Now, if he wanted to go on a trip across the whole of Brazil and through the jungle, what would he take?

With a shake of his head, he hopped off the table and set to work.

One hour later, a family of macaws stirred awake a couple meters away, safe inside their birdhouse in the trees. Jewel was the first awake like always, and she nudged her partner whilst standing up. Together, they woke up their kids quietly yet with a few grumbles from their brethren.

Blu was still thinking carefully about the situation that had popped the day before and shook their entire world; in particular what he had accidentally eavesdropped from Fernando.

His reasoning kept going all the while his family flew to a grove of fruit trees where a couple birds were busy eating. The macaw parents collected a few fruits and shared them with the kids, but this morning everyone was disturbingly silent.

Bia, still sporting a bandage around her leg, was the first to break the awkward silence. With a look that encompassed the rest of the family, she started:

"I didn't dream what happened yesterday did I? I didn't turn delirious from the burn I hope?"

Tiago cocked his head to the side at that, and looked around carefully before opening his beak. He wouldn't want the other birds in the sanctuary to think they had all turned crazy.

"If you're talking about Fernando's transformation, then no, you definitely didn't. I think?" He asked his parents with a raised eye ridge.

He got a head shake from Blu and a sigh from Jewel. Neither of them could quite believe this but all evidence was against them for that matter.

"So what're we gonna do about it?" That was from Carla, who asked the question just as she was discarding the fruit core of her breakfast.

"What do you mean, what we're gonna do? We're gonna help him!" Tiago said as if it were the most obvious thing ever and then went on with a whisper "It's kind of my fault, after all..."

His mother scoffed at that, perhaps a bit angry about Bia getting hurt in the incident and she remembered the kidnapping he had done years ago.

"And how do you think you're going to help him, then?" She said.

"Mom! You saw him as well as I did, he doesn't know anything. Heck, he couldn't even walk straight last time we saw him! He needs our help, we're the only ones who know and nobody would believe him if he were to tell that story!"

"Pedro and Nico do know." She countered.

"Pedro and Nico have their club to deal with." Said Carla, siding with her brother. She, too, felt responsible for the incident.

Blu stepped in before the kids could get themselves in trouble with their mother. With a glance at Jewel, he opened his beak to address the issue.

"Kids, hold on a moment. Before you get into this, think about the implications. This could go a lot further than we think it could ... "But he stopped as Jewel brushed her wing tip against it.

"Actually Blu, I do think we should help. I just wanted them to lay down their arguments." She turned her eyes on her kids and went on: "It's important they know when to fix their mistakes, we will help him."

"Yeah!" Tiago jumped in the air with a sheer "Now I can teach someone my flying tricks!"

"More like crashing tricks..." Mumbled Carla

"What was that Carla?"

"Nothing Mom! Just a bit of fruit skin stuck in my beak!" She hastily answered.

"Well you're a mess alright, let's get you cleaned and preened now before the other birds start thinking you're just savages. Fernando can wait for now." With that sentence, she grabbed a reluctant Tiago and headed for a nearby waterfall to get him cleaned up.

"Aw come on!" Whined Tiago.

Meanwhile, a blue macaw chick was busy dragging a bag of supplies across the house. He had soon found out he couldn't open the hatch to the attic so he elected to hide the travel gear in a corner of the laundry room he knew people were unlikely to check. That was hard enough as it is because it took him close to an hour and a half before he managed to drag enough stuff away to make it credible, cutting it real close before Gloria turned up.

He was panting from the exertion, covered in dust and with his feathers even more messy than when he had woken up, but the work was done. It would stop people from worrying too much about him (not that they wouldn't, but he'd rather they believe he went on his own than that he had been kidnapped or worse).

Not knowing how his caretaker would react to an unknown member of the rarest breed of macaw being present in the house, Fernando used the time he had left to find himself a hiding spot in a bush outside the cottage, right by the main door so he could see Gloria coming. She arrived right on cue: just when the clock ticked eight, a white hatchback drove in the driveway. He saw the woman enter the house with a cup of coffee and a bag from the bakery in hand.

The macaw counted about five minutes before Gloria erupted from the doorway in a full sprint headed for the conservation centre, her coffee forgotten with the sudden rush of adrenaline. Fernando felt a bit sorry but he couldn't think of any other alternative. With a sigh, he used a string of vines to climb the cottage's wall and enter through an open window. At least he had figured out how to climb using his beak, semi-reliably.

Once inside, he elected to try his luck on the internet some more. Who knows, with the amount of results a Google search yielded, he was bound to find something relevant sooner or later...

"Quit whining Tiago, you know you needed that shower so stop it already." His sister Bia berated him on the way to the cottage. The family had decided to put off their planning (not that it was particularly busy save for Blu teaching them this or that, like reading) as long as they saw Fernando needed help.

"I know! But I don't need Mom cleaning me! I swear I can do it myself you saw it!" The youngest macaw children complained.

"Suuuure" Replied Carla ironically "we all know you just preen a bit and stand by the waterfall, admit it, you couldn't clean yourself if your life depended on it, lil' bro'"

To that, the young macaw couldn't find any swift answer and he just glowered for the rest of the flight. They followed their parents through the jungle of the sanctuary until they arrived back home at the birdhouse by the cottage. Instead of stopping there though, they flew straight through the kitchen window and landed there on the counter.

"Hello there!" Blu called as he landed "is anyone there?"

"Over there!" He heard Fernando cry out from the living room.

When Blu's family entered the room, their first sight was a discarded paper coffee cup lying on the ground with a paper bag. Fernando was standing looking at them from the couch by the Ipad, but his sight elicited a comment from Tiago at once:

"Eh Bia, if I'm not good at cleaning myself, what is he? A catastrophe?" He chirped

Indeed the young human-now-macaw was a prime example of dirtiness for birds that neither preened nor washed: his plumage was dulled by the dust that covered him and his feathers were a completely terrific mess. Jewel eyed him critically and wondered how one could go from relatively clean to such a mess in a single night. Fernando just answered with a shrug of his wings and a blunt answer:

"Eh, I had a rough night I guess, and I didn't get to take a shower just yet. Not that I think I can use it in that state, I should most likely stick to the sink."

Blu nodded at that and hopped on the couch beside Fernando. He held a wing towards the former human and made his proposition:

"Well Fernando, we had an idea we discussed together. In fact we would be happy to lend you some help, you know, to learn how to live on while you're stuck as a bird. As a matter of fact we could also help with finding a solution and... To be honest you really need to be taught about hygiene."

Fernando lowered his head shamefully and then caught himself and shook his head with an annoyed chirp.

"Yeah, you're right; I do need a bit of help." He stopped for a second, seemingly deep in thought "On another train of thought..." He turned to Bia "How is your leg? Not too stiff or too painful?"

"Not really, the salve does a great job at numbing the pain. I just avoid moving it too much."

"Great!" The boy exclaimed "That means changing your bandage won't be too much trouble; I swear your leg will be fine in short order. I will change it once I'm clean."

"And how is your research going?" Jewel butted in curiously.

"Not well at all I'm afraid. Any reference I look into about a transformation is either fiction or jokes."

"Eh, you're bound to find something sooner or later." Carla consoled him. Fernando just shrugged dejectedly. "How about you go get yourself cleaned for that change of bandage now?"

"I can show you how to do it." Blu commented.

"Thanks, that's kinda needed at the moment."

"Ah!" Tiago cried out joyfully "Now there's someone worse at cleaning than me!" He let out a cheerful cry and jumped in celebration, but failed to see a spoon lying on the counter, tripped on it, and fell in the trashcan by the sink.

The former human just looked owlishly (which was funny enough for a macaw) at the display and gave the rest of the family a bewildered look.

"That sort of thing happens often?" He asked.

"More than you'd think." Tiago's mother answered in annoyance. "Looks like someone is going to need another round in the shower."

"I'm impressed, he actually lasted a full hour before getting dirty again. That's got to be a record." Commented Bia with a chuckle.

"I heard that you know!" Tiago answered as he extracted himself from the trashcan, covered in grime.

Blu just sighed, pinching his beak between two primary feathers. He waved his wing in the general direction of the bathroom (with Linda letting him in quite often, he knew where it was beforehand and it was just more convenient than flying back to the waterfall).

"Let's get going" He just said. "You don't think we're going to be interrupted Fernando?"

He just shook his head negatively at that.

"Not for a while. Gloria may come back this afternoon with some cops looking for clues but I should have thrown them on a wild goose chase. Not that I particularly like it..." He ended with a bit of resentment.

Blu stopped walking towards the bathroom at that last comment and put his wingtip on Fernando's shoulder.

"Eh, no need to feel so down. We will get you out of that situation, I promise." He said in sympathy "You can always count on us."

The boy let out a small smile for answer and nodded shortly. He looked back to see Tiago following them at a distance. The youngest of Blu's chicks was shaking his wings to get rid of some fruit bits lodged between his feathers.

With a look towards the girls, who were seemingly listening to Bia on the counter; the group departed. The bathroom in the cottage was next to the bedrooms and was outfitted simply with a shower, a sink and a toilet. The shower's handles were now indeed out of Fernando's reach, but the sink could be climbed onto from the toilet.

Blu showed him how to rustle his feathers to easily let water through and how to scrub and preen using his beak... by using a very embarrassed Tiago as example. Nevertheless, Fernando managed to rid himself of the filth with a copious application of water, which in addition helped smooth down his feathers. If he was far from being able to reliably get cleaned without Blu giving advice next to him, he didn't let it on. It's not like he could pick out which feathers needed to be pulled out after such a short time after all.

He looked down at his beak, which compared to his former nose was enormous and scratched a dirty spot on it with his claw.

"How often do macaws shower Blu?"

"It depends. I try to everyday, whenever it's possible but some birds prefer not to because then they have to let their feathers dry. Worst case I know –no Tiago, not you- is once a week."

"Uh uh" Acknowledged the boy. "No problems with using a towel?"He waved at a stack of towels beside the shower for emphasis.

"Not if you don't mess up your feathers whilst drying, though Jewel isn't too fond of using human items, and the nature equivalent –a sort of moss, that is- is pretty rare and we prefer to use it as nest material."

Then, he motioned to Fernando and his son to follow him and they hopped off the sink and went to fetch two towels.

"Now," He started with a corner of a towel in his claw "You just need to brush sideways to the direction of your feathers to dry, then in their direction to smooth them down and you're good." At the same time he was saying that, he showed them the motion by brushing his own feathers.

That was easy enough thought Fernando, save for the fact that using his claw to grasp the towel meant he had to awkwardly hop around and flare out his wings to keep his balance. Unused to his current body as he was, he was soon hitting the floor with a dull thump.

"You alright there?" Tiago asked.

"I'm fine, I just have terrible balance."

He finished drying his feathers lying on his back, which was a tad easier. Being entirely covered in feathers gave a very different sensation than human skin and couldn't even be compared to clothing. It was sort of a less sensitive second skin... and very colourful. He stood up and pushed the towel next to the basket used for dirty laundry. He was still a bit damp, but nothing he couldn't live with.

"Okay, now that I'm presentable, let's get your sister's bandage changed Tiago."

And then he walked out the bathroom without waiting for Blu and Tiago. Slow as he was, it wasn't much of a problem and the duo caught up with him quickly.

"Say Fernando, why do you want to change the bandage that bad? It's still looking fine last I checked." That was from Blu.

"It's not about the bandage itself being dirty but what's under Blu. The burn salve needs to be reapplied daily and it contains a bit of disinfectant. It's to heal the burn faster and keep her from getting an infection. Also, I should be able to give you the heads up on how long it will take to heal fully. You told her to avoid putting too much strain on her leg right?"

"That was not too difficult to ask in the first place..."

"Yeah!" Tiago butted in; interrupting his father "She spends nearly all her time reading books in her nest, so if you tell her to hold off on exercise she would be happy, of all things."

Fernando just raised an eye ridge at that.

"Reading books? I didn't know you could read –well, except you Blu, from what Linda told me -, not that I know how you and all the birds spend your time here in the sanctuary."

"That's the thing actually." Blu started with a hint of a blush "I insisted with Jewel to teach her and the kids how to read and write. After that the subject came up when I was chatting with some friends. They wanted to learn it too, since it's pretty useful, so now I teach them every afternoon."

"So you're a teacher then?"

"I guess you could say that. Usually I give the adults some lessons first, then the kids. It's just about twenty birds per class most of the time."

"That's nice Blu, how do you give your lessons? I don't think you have a classroom for that, as far as I know at least..."

"There are a handful of books I borrowed from Linda that I keep in a stash, and many of the birds that fly around Rio have little trouble bringing back paper and writing supplies when they find some. Then we just gather the stuff at a big hollow that's sorta become the sanctuary's "school" and I can give lessons."

By then, the trio of males was standing chatting in the doorway to the kitchen, with Blu and Fernando having momentarily forgotten what they were doing.

"That's really cool. I would never have guessed you guys do that in your free time. Are you doing this alone?"

Jewel coughed to get their attention.

"At first I was, but now I've got help from a few other birds..."

Jewel coughed again, louder.

"There is Tina, who helps with the reading. Antonio gives lessons about life in the jungle. Oh and there is Julia too..."

"GUYS!" Jewel cried out, exasperated.

"Uh?" Fernando turned toward her, completely oblivious to them up until then.

Jewel just pointed her wing at Bia.

"Oh right sorry." He answered, sheepishly rubbing his wing against his head. "Got a bit carried away there."

Thankfully, he had neglected to put the medical supplies back in their shelf and they were still on the counter. He struggled a bit to climb on the furniture, but he was clearly improving. Blu and Tiago just flew up there, which earned them a glance from Fernando.

"I guess I'm really going to need to learn how to fly, right?"

"If you are going to be stuck as a bird for any longer, you will." Jewel answered."You may manage to get around on foot in this house but outside it would be too inconvenient... and dangerous of course."

"Dangerous? I thought the sanctuary was pretty safe." He said, busy retrieving what he needed from the medical satchel.

"By jungle standards, it is. Flighted birds are safe, but if you get around by walking you're going to run in some nasty things, like venomous insects. They're otherwise easy to avoid by flying, and we regularly chase them out of nesting and feeding areas."

"So I really can't cut it?" He replied unenthusiastically, pulling a tube of sanitizer and the salve out of the satchel with his claw.

"Why are you making it sound so bad? Flying is awesome!" Exclaimed Tiago, with a nod of agreement from his siblings.

"Humans don't fly." He answered flatly. "Gotcha!" He added, grabbing a small roll of bandages that was about to roll off and fall in the sink.

"Actually they do. And you're a bird at the moment too." Bia countered truthfully.

"It's not what I appear to be at the moment that matters." He pointed a feather at his head. "It's what's in there that matters. As for humans flying, we don't fly on our own like birds, there is always a contraption keeping us in the air or something to protect from the fall."

"Fernando... Are you afraid?" Carla asked.

He stuttered a bit, trying to find an answer and stopped himself. He shook his head and let out a small sigh.

"Sort of. Remember when you three were young and Linda and Tulio went on a hang-glider flight with you?" Blu's entire family nodded, that had been a particularly great day.

"That day, Linda proposed I go with them. Except when we got to the launching platform, I just wouldn't dare to make the jump."

"So you were scared." That was from Bia.

"Not of the flight per se. I was afraid of the possibility of an accident."

"I don't see the difference."

Fernando let out a frustrated chirp and just went on.

"Here's the thing, before meeting Linda, I had been living on my own for as long as I can remember. And when you're on your own like I was back then, being hurt or incapacitated means you can't fend for yourself. And if you can't, then you're a goner. So I've always been really scared of getting hurt."

A flicker of understanding passed through Jewel's eyes, she could relate with that to a certain extent. The jungle wasn't a kind place either, though she hadn't grown up completely alone.

Right then, Fernando looked a bit embarrassed and decided to change the subject quickly. That was getting a bit too personal; he had only ever told that to his adoptive parents.

"Regardless, why don't we get that wound sorted out for the day? Bia can you come over here?"

She sauntered absentmindedly over to him, still pondering about his explanation. Fernando just let her be and motioned for her to lie on her back. He then rubbed his claws with a healthy dose of sanitizer. Better safe than sorry, the disinfectant in the salve wasn't a miracle product.

It was a bit weird to treat her with the rest of her family practically breathing down his neck, but he managed to ignore it. First off he untied the old bandage and folded it neatly beside him. He had to give it to Bia, she was surprisingly good at keeping the bandage clean, more so than most birds in treatment at the centre tended to be.

The salve he had applied on the burn was now used up with no leftover he would have to clean, a neat bonus. And the burn itself was showing signs it was healing right, with no trace of infection –he let relief wash over him at that -. Maybe Bia would be able to take off her bandage within the week if it kept going like that. That last part he said aloud. The articulations, which had worried him the day before, showed no sign of damage.

Applying a new layer of salve was no big deal; his claws were actually a bit handy for that. It was like spreading butter on a sandwich. He made sure to use the appropriate amount and then grabbed the new bandage.

Rolling it around Bia's leg was quite a bit harder than applying salve and he had to ask Blu to hold one end of the roll for him. Even then, he had to stand on one claw and use the other and his beak combined to obtain what he would call a sufficient result. And it was not even as tight as he would have desired, so he added a bit of medical tape to make it hold a bit better.

"There you go, good for another day. If this keeps up you will be rid of the bandages by the end of the week, if my guess is right."

"Thanks a lot Fernando."

He waved his hand dismissively at that comment.

"Don't thank me. If anything it's my fault you were hurt in the first place."

"Well, you're definitely not the only one responsible in this affair." Jewel said, eyeing the three of her children. "If some chicks could learn to cohabitate without bickering we would not be in this situation."

Tiago and Carla looked down in shame. They didn't mean anyone to get hurt; it was a first for them to be faced with such consequences. Fernando didn't really pay attention, he wouldn't want to pry in their family matters and he had to put the medical supplies away.

"What time is it anyway?" He asked while carefully putting the salve back in the satchel, his back turned to the rest of the room.

Blu looked at the kitchen's clock.

"09.45, why does it matter?"

"If I remember how the cops work in this city, they won't spare a team to investigate my disappearance in the morning even if Gloria reported it immediately. That means I can use the time before... about twelve thirty to keep going with my research here on the computer. Then I will have to bail out of here because my presence here would be way too suspicious and I wouldn't be able to do anything anyway."

"How are you suspicious in this form?" Carla asked. "You should be able to blend in pretty easily."

"You forgot the whole blue macaw part. Nearly the whole country knows there is family of very rare macaws living here and if all of a sudden a chick that looks as old as the others appears out of nowhere? In close proximity to the rest? There is no way they would miss that."

Actually he wasn't too sure of that, but he would rather not take the risk and waste time being stuck in examination at the preservation centre. His decoy plan gave him some time, but he would rather be back in human form before word of his disappearance could reach his adoptive parents.

"Well if you're sure of that then all the better." Blu said. "Though I can't help but wonder how you know the cops don't investigate in the morning." There was a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"I used to run errands and deliver packages to get my food before I met Linda." He answered. "Not always the legal kind mind you, so I learnt how to avoid police patrols, and they usually spend their nights and mornings going tracking. Afternoons are mostly cops free because that's when they have to actually go investigate."

"So you're like a gangster?" Tiago asked.

"Was" Fernando said with a lot of emphasis "When it's a matter of eating or starving, you don't really look where the food came from. Fortunately I don't have to do that anymore, it was disgusting and crazy dangerous."

"Uh, guess Linda really succeeded in getting you off the streets."

"That's the single best thing that ever happened to me I tell you. Now I've a family that cares and a home. I swear I wouldn't be so stupid as to go back to that kind of things." He gave Blu and Jewel and long look. "And if that wasn't enough, the whole smuggling affair completely broke the deal for me." He sighed and gave Tiago and Carla a brief smile. "That was the first time I got to see that my actions were causing a lot of pain. I felt terrible so I helped Linda find you at the parade and the airport. You know the rest. So really, no worries about me being a gangster or something."

"You really gave that a lot of thought." Jewel stated.

"That's the conclusion I reached from talking with Linda. She's a great help when it comes to talking things out."

"Yeah, that's my Linda" Blu said with a smile.

"Back on the subject of today's planning" Jewel said. "So you're going to stay there this morning doing some research. I think you should use the afternoon to try to learn how to fly."

"Sounds good, but aren't you guys busy with school?"

"Blu and the kids are. I had a meeting with some friends but I can cancel that easily enough and teach you by our birdhouse."

"Sure, you really don't mind doing that I hope?"

"Don't worry about that Fernando" Blu butted in. "Jewel is one of the best flyers in Rio. Anytime a bird has flight related problems they call her. She's an expert in the air." Blu said with a loving smile. "Nobody would bat an eye if she said she spared some time to give a chick some flight lessons."

"Eh thanks, that's great!" He paused briefly. "So where do we meet?"

"Just meet me here in the kitchen at noon, I will be there." Jewel then turned to her kids. "And what about you? Blu and I will be going to Rafael's place."

"Works just fine for me" Tiago said "I had a few tricks I wanted to show to the horde."

"Can I just hang out with my friends? I want to go hang out with Vera and Nela. We will be around the watchtower." Carla asked.

"Sure sweetie, just promise me to stick there. No wandering around and having us worried like you did that one time." Her mother said sternly.

"I promise mom." She said, already spreading her wings. "See you later then!" And then she flew off.

"And remember: lunch here at noon" Blu called out after her, receiving an already distant "yeah" for answer.

"And what about you Bia?" Her father asked her.

"Err... If you don't mind, I thought that since I need to rest my leg, I could maybe stay here and help Fernando with the research." She said timidly. "If you don't mind of course, Fernando."

The aforementioned boy just gestured with his wings in a placating manner.

"No problem on my end whatsoever. We will just avoid fooling around with chemicals this time."

"Well, that's good then. You may stay. Just be careful, and avoid humans if they turn up sooner than expected ok? Bia, you know where to find us at Rafael's if you need to." Blu said.

"Let's get going shall we?" Jewel said.

With a nod from Blu and a "see ya' later" from Tiago; he, Jewel and Tiago flew off to their destination.

"Who's Rafael anyway? Sounds like he's an important guy around here." Fernando wondered.

"He's a toucan friend of my parents. Really friendly and knows practically everyone around here so he's kind of a figurehead for the birds. He used to be a famous samba dancer but now he's settled down with a lot of kids." Bia answered his question in one breath. "And by a lot of kids, I really mean it. He has twenty children if I recall it right."

"Twenty? You're kidding me?" Bia shook her head negatively. "That's the horde your brother mentioned?"

"Exactly, and if you want a bit of advice, avoid contact with them. They're huge pranksters. Now with Tiago alongside them like right now? We're lucky the parents are with them otherwise I would tell you to run for cover."

"That bad uh? What kind of pranks are we talking about?"

"Booby traps, ambushes, and expect a lot of tree sap." She said with a shudder. "By the way" she added "that stuff is downright nasty to get rid of once it's stuck to your feathers if you hadn't guessed."

"Don't you try to prank back sometimes?"

"Not really. I usually manage to avoid their traps unless I'm really distracted. Carla sticks with her friends for added protection and just throws sarcasm at them like there is no tomorrow."

"Looks like I'm gonna have to pay attention then." He motioned towards the living room where he had left the Ipad "What about we get started with that research? I was starting to run out of ideas but maybe you have some ideas."

"I might have some" she said, walking to the edge of the counter with a limp and gliding down to the ground. Fernando followed her by climbing down. "But it depends on what you've already looked for?"

They walked to the living room at a sedate pace.

"I mostly tried to look for information on things that could turn a human into a macaw. No result, even when I try with more general words like parrot or bird."

"No result at all?"

"I mean, yes, there are results. Except what I get are only fancy stories, fiction. Nothing real or concrete."

When he finished, he climbed on the couch, followed by Bia making a flying jump. He booted up the device and started up Safari. Bia tapped the tip of her wing against her beak.

"What if we tried a different approach? You already did a generalised research on bird transformation, but maybe we should look at this problem from the chemical angle. Yeah, let's try to look for chemical that cause transformations first, then we further that with what we know we used yesterday."

Fernando let out a positive grumble and entered "chemicals that transform people into birds" in the engine. A ton of results popped up immediately.

"And now the part where we look at these sites. Hopefully that works this time..."

Bia looked at the screen over his shoulder.

"That's err... a LOT of results."

"Yep" Fernando answered curtly and clicked on the first result, a link to a forum.


End file.
